Headlight.



No. 851,305. PATENTED APR. 23, 1907. E. H. MQLAUGHLIN & E. S. SITTEL.

HEADLIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED n.4, 190s.

ITLVEIltT] TS @%J@ M -fi mm ms uolems an co UNITED STATES PATENT GEETGEQHEADLIGHT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed January 4, 1906. Serial No. 294,611.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EDWARD H. Mo- LAUGHLIN and EDWARD S. Srr'rEL,citizens of the United States, residing at Parsons, in the county ofLabette and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Headlights; and we do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enable0t ers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to locomotive headlights, and has for its object,first, to provide an indicator or numbering device which shall beindependent of the headlight case and separable therefrom, so that itmay readily be removed from one headlight and attached to another;second, to provide an indicator-hood capable of displaying the number ofthe locomotive, or other information from one or more sides of the hood,and adapted to be illuminated by light from within the case passingthrough the front glass thereof, the said hood having no communicationwith the interior of the headlight, and third, to provide suchindependent hood with a reflecting surface arranged to reflect theupward rays of light, which would otherwise be wasted, down in front ofthe locomotive to illuminate the track immedi ately in front thereof,thus enabling the engineer, when the locomotive is running throughyards, to see the condition of frogs and switches.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by means of theconstruction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a front view of a headlight with our improved signal chamber attachedthereto, part of the front wall being broken away to show the manner inwhich the chamber is secured to the headlight case; Fig. 2 is a sideview of the same partly in elevation and partly in section, and showinga portion of the reflector within the case; Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof the signal-chamber detached from the headlight case.

In the said drawings similar reference numbers indicate correspondingparts in all the figures thereof.

1 designates a headlight case which may be of the usual or any suitableconstruction and having a front projectingrim 6 adapted to carry a lensor glass disc 10 through which light from the headlight burner isreflected by means of a reflector 7, all of which is common tolocomotive headlights as heretofore constructed. At the upper part ofthe headlight case and resting upon the said front rim thereof ismounted a box-like display device (commonly termed signal-chamber) 2,the rear wall of which is formed to suit the diameter of the said rimupon. which it rests and to which it is secured as hereinafterdescribed. This chamber projects forward of the body of the headlightand is disposed at rightangles to the lens or disc 10; the bottom of thechamber is open to permit the rays of light which are reflected upwardand outward by the reflector within the case to enter the same andilluminate signal plates 3, held in the front and side vertical walls ofthe chamber and in which walls openings are cut to accommodate the sameas is usual in various forms of signal devices used in connection withlocomotive headlights; it is obvious, however, that the bottom of thechamber may be closed by a glass plate, but in practice we have foundthis to be unnecessary. Secured on the inside of the rear wall 5, of thechamber is a wood block 4, to receive screws 8 which pass through thefront rim 6, and through the wood block 4 and the front of the case bodybolts 9 are passed and in this manner the chamber is firmly secured tothe case as shown in the drawing.

Modern built locomotives are of such large proportions and are so highthat the headlight, being mounted at the top of the boiler extension,does not illuminate the track for a considerable distance ahead of thelocomotive, in order to utilize the upward rays of light, which haveheretofore been wasted, for the purpose of illuminating the trackimmediately in front of the locomotive so that when passing throughyards and other )laces, where there are frogs and switches the engineermay be able to more clearly observe the condition and position of same,we place on the underside of the top wall of the charm ber a reflector11, arranged in such relative position as to reflect the light downward,and by this means accomplish a most desirable result. It is obvious,however, that the said top wall may be suitably inclined, as shown inFig. 2, and may of itself form said reflector.

From the foregoing it will be observed that our improved signal-chamberis entirely independent of and separable from the headlight case; thatthere is no open communi- IIO cation with the interior of the case; thatan attachment for headlights, in accordance with our invention can bereadily attached to headlights as at present constructed, or in otherwords that our improved signalchamber can be supplied as an article complete in itself and attached to headlights already in service; that byarranging the signal character p ates in the manner described and shownmuch more powerful illumination thereof is obtained and the signalcharacters thereby made more distinct and visible at a greater distance,and that it not only indicates the number of the locomotive or givesother information, but also improves the efficiency of the headlight byutilizing wasted rays of light to light the track in front of thelocomotive, where with systems heretofore employed a dark space exists,and that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the principle orsacrificing any of the advantages of our invention.

We are aware that it is not broadly new to mount a signal-chamber infront and independent of the headlight, such for example as is shown inUnited States Letters Patent No. 27 0,7 92 in which the light enters thechamber at the rear and by means of a reflector in the bottom thereof,is directed upward and then, by other reflectors, outward against thesignals to be illuminated, and we do not claim such constructionbroadly.

Having thus fully described our invention we claim 1. In combinationwith an illuminating device having a lens; of a signal display de vicefixed with respect to the illuminating device and comprising a box-likebody arranged at one side of and extending forward of and at a rightangle to the lens; the said body being open at its longitudinal sidenearest the lens throughout its area in front of the lens, whereby thelight which has passed through the lens is enabled to illuminate theinterior of the body, and having an upright wall provided with anilluminated signal, as and for the pur ose set forth.

2. In combination wit a headlight case having a reflector and a lenstherein, an at tachment therefor comprising an independentsignal-chamber having one or more of its vertical side walls providedwith signal-characters, the said chamber being secured to and projectingforward of the case and having an open bottom in front of the lens,whereby the said signalcharacters are illuminated by light reflecteddirectly into the chamber by the reflector within the case.

3. In combination with a headlight case having a reflector and a lenstherein, an attachment therefor comprising an independent signal-chamberhaving one or more of its vertical side walls provided with signalcharacters, the said chamber being secured to and projecting forward of thecase and having an open bottom in front of the lens, whereby the saidsignal-characters are illuminated by light reflected directly into thechamber by the reflector within the case, and a reflector located on theunderside of the top of the chamber whereby the light therein isreflected upon the track immediately in front of the locomotive.

4. In combination with a headlight case having a reflector and a lenstherein, a signalchamber open at its bottom side in front of the lensand mounted upon the front projecting rim of the case and extendingforward thereof, and signal-characters located in one or more of thevertical side walls of the chamber and illuminated by light reflecteddirectly into the chamber through the open bottom thereof by thereflector within the case.

5. In combination with a headlight case having a reflector and a lenstherein, a signalchamber open at its bottom side in front of the lensand mounted upon the front-projecting rim of the case and extendingforward thereof, signal-characters located in one or more of thevertical side walls of the chamber and illuminated by light reflecteddirectly into the chamber through the open bottom thereof by thereflector within the case, and a reflector located on the underside ofthe top of the chamber whereby the light therein is reflected upon thetrack immediately in front of the locomotive.

6. In combination with a headlight case having a reflector and a lenstherein, an attachment therefor comprising an independent signal-chamberhaving an open bottom in front of said lens mounted upon the frontprojecting rim of the case and extending for-- ward thereof, andsignal-characters located in one or more of the vertical side walls ofsaid chamber illuminated by light reflected directly into the chamber bythe reflector within the case.

7. In combination with a headlight case having a reflector and a lenstherein, an attachment therefor comprising an independent signal-chamberhaving an open bottom in front of said lens mounted upon the frontprojecting rim of the case and extending forward thereof,signal-characters located in one or more of the vertical side walls ofsaid chamber illuminated by light reflected directly into the chamber bythe reflector within the case, and a reflector located on the undersideof the top of the chamber whereby the light therein is reflected uponthe track immediately in front of the locomotive.

8. A new article of manufacture for at-' tachment to locomotiveheadlights comprising a signal-chamber having a closed top and an openbottom and some of whose vertical side walls carry signal-charactersadapted to be illuminated by light reflected into the chamber directfrom the reflector within the headlight case when said chamber ismounted thereon.

9. A new article of manufacture for attachment to locomotive headlightscomprising a signal-chamber having a closed top and an open bottom andsome of whose vertical side walls carry signal-characters adapted to beilluminated by light reflected into the chamber direct from thereflector within the headlight case when said chamber is mountedthereon, and a reflector located on the underside of the top of thechamber whereby the light therein is reflected upon the trackimmediately in front of the locomotive.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

EDl/VARD H. McLAUGI-ILIN. EDWVARD S. SITTEL.

Witnesses:

CHARs. SoI-IMooK, GE'o. K. RATLIFF.

